Dungeon Theory

I had never heard of “dice jail” before Critical Role .  Roll a few Natural 1s, and those dice are banished to the “dice jail”. “Dice jail” is where dice which roll low go to gather dust and not cause any more harm. I’m generally not one for believing in luck. But, I’ve seen players perform all kinds of luck rituals: repeatedly rolling dice before the game starts to see which are “rolling well” tonight, making sure their dice (when not being used) are set “20 up” so that they get the feel of landing well, not using others’ dice (and especially not using the DM’s dice for player rolls).  If an anthropologist were to observe your gaming table, what could they learn about the culture of your group from the behaviors, the repeated phrases, and the rituals around your D&D game? Someone like Clifford Geertz would likely find a lot of interesting meaning, shared understanding, and sense-making as part of your game. He would approach the table as a culture to understand, where th...

  Buckle up. This one is a line drive down the middle. The central idea of this theory is completely intuitive to any roleplayer, actor, or anyone who’s had to pretend they’re enjoying themselves alongside other people pretending to enjoy themselves. Ernest Bormann ’s theory claims that when a group shares “fantasies” (seriously) they come together (again, seriously) in the symbols (words) that they use to describe their worlds. This is symbolic convergence theory (SCT), a post that almost writes itself.  If you’ve played D&D or any roleplaying game even once , you’ve lived this theory. When we’re part of an adventuring party we frequently talk about what’s going on outside the session, what’s happened before, and what might happen in the future. It’s the co-creation of a shared consciousness that helps to enhance the experience. Almost all messages at the table are “dramatized” messages, meaning they describe events that occur(ed) in another place and time.  When dr...